Patents by Inventor Keith Dennison

Keith Dennison has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9589085
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for viewing analog simulation check violations in an EDA framework. Embodiments combine input data tables into a single data table for each check type using SQL inner join operations, create a SQL view of the single data table to list individual check violations, and output the view for user inspection of the corresponding check violations. Embodiments normalize the input data tables to include details of circuit nodes, elements, and paths implicated in the check violations. Additional views combine views of different check types into unified summary tables. Embodiments create a second view to aggregate individual check violations that involve the same circuit objects over time, and output the second view. Output views are self-describing, to enable a single graphical user interface to operate across multiple simulator versions. Metadata tables describe data types presented in various view columns, and user interactions allowed therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald J. O'Riordan, Keith Dennison, Vuk Borich
  • Patent number: 9501598
    Abstract: A system and method for managing analog assertion publication and re-use for analog and mixed-signal circuit designs. A graphical user interface based environment allows circuit designers to create, verify, formalize, and publish an analog assertion for a circuit design for subsequent re-use with another circuit design. Embodiments enable analog assertion handling while simultaneously depicting a circuit design in a schematic and/or layout editor window. Embodiments capture referenced circuit objects and parameterize the assertion for numerical values and connectivity. A designer may publish the assertion and annotate it with descriptive metadata, possibly with other assertions of related functionality, to a library accessible by users of analog design and verification tools.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald J. O'Riordan, Vuk Borich, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 9286420
    Abstract: Various processes or modules described herein enable the schematic design tools to obtain physical data of a physical design and to perform one or more simulations in the schematic domain with such physical data such that the schematic design tools are made electrically aware of the physical data. Various types of data in the physical domain may be transferred to the schematic domain for the performance of one or more schematic simulations with the transferred data. The schematic designs are thus made electrically aware of such data from the physical domain and may incorporate any layout induced effects early in the schematic design stage or even at the time a schematic instance of a physical module is to be created in the schematic domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Krishnan, Jeremiah Cessna, Akshat Shah, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 9223925
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic designs with simulation awareness. A schematic is identified or created and simulated at the schematic level to characterize the functional behavior of the circuit or to ensure the circuit design meets the required design specifications. Physical data of a component of the design is identified, created, or updated, and the electrical parasitic associated with physical data is characterized. One or more electrical characteristics associated with the parasitic is further characterized and mapped to the simulator to re-simulate the circuit design to analyze the impact of parasitics. Some embodiments re-run the same simulation process incrementally in an interactive manner by accepting incremental design or parameter changes from the design environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Krishnan, Michael McSherry, David White, Ed Fischer, Bruce Yanagida, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 9047424
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for automatically providing circuit designers with verification information for analog and mixed-signal circuit designs. A graphical user interface based environment allows circuit designers to enter verification IP while simultaneously viewing the design IP in a schematic and/or layout editor window. Embodiments maintain the verification IP in a cellview similar to the separate cellviews used for schematic and layout data. Verification IP may be selectively translated into data that is directly exportable to and usable by particular analog and mixed-signal simulators. Embodiments direct design IP and verification IP to a simulator that dynamically stitches both together during circuit verification, and tangibly outputs verification results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Baker, Donald J. O'Riordan, Keith Dennison
  • Publication number: 20140237440
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic designs with simulation awareness. A schematic is identified or created and simulated at the schematic level to characterize the functional behavior of the circuit or to ensure the circuit design meets the required design specifications. Physical data of a component of the design is identified, created, or updated, and the electrical parasitic associated with physical data is characterized. One or more electrical characteristics associated with the parasitic is further characterized and mapped to the simulator to re-simulate the circuit design to analyze the impact of parasitics. Some embodiments re-run the same simulation process incrementally in an interactive manner by accepting incremental design or parameter changes from the design environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2014
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Michael McSherry, David White, Ed Fischer, Bruce Yanagida, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 8769456
    Abstract: Various processes or modules described herein enable the schematic design tools to obtain physical data of a physical design and to perform one or more simulations in the schematic domain with such physical data such that the schematic design tools are made electrically aware of the physical data. Various types of data in the physical domain may be transferred to the schematic domain for the performance of one or more schematic simulations with the transferred data. The schematic designs are thus made electrically aware of such data from the physical domain and may incorporate any layout induced effects early in the schematic design stage or even at the time a schematic instance of a physical module is to be created in the schematic domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Krishnan, Jeremiah Cessna, Akshat Shah, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 8694950
    Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system, and computer program product for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The method or the system updates the schematic level tool(s) and physical design tool(s) with electrical parasitic data or electrical characteristic data associated with electrical parasitics so both schematic and physical design tools are aware of the electrical parasitic or characteristic data in performing their functions such as extraction based simulations. The methods or systems are also aware of EM or IR-drop constraint(s) while implementing or creating a partial layout less than a complete layout. The method or the system also provides a user interface for a design tool to provide in situ, customizable, real-time information for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The methods or systems also support constraint verification for electronic circuit design implementation with electrical awareness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael McSherry, David White, Ed Fischer, Bruce Yanagida, Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Keith Dennison, Akshat Shah
  • Patent number: 8694933
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic designs with simulation awareness. A schematic is identified or created and simulated at the schematic level to characterize the functional behavior of the circuit or to ensure the circuit design meets the required design specifications. Physical data of a component of the design is identified, created, or updated, and the electrical parasitic associated with physical data is characterized. One or more electrical characteristics associated with the parasitic is further characterized and mapped to the simulator to re-simulate the circuit design to analyze the impact of parasitics. Some embodiments re-run the same simulation process incrementally in an interactive manner by accepting incremental design or parameter changes from the design environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Michael McSherry, David White, Ed Fischer, Bruce Yanagida, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 8612921
    Abstract: A user is presented with a simulation environment within which the user is provided a choice to select between parasitic simulation modes of varying accuracy, the modes including a mode without parasitics and a plurality of modes including parasitics with a varying degree of accuracy. A selection from among the modes is received from the user and simulation test are performed at the selected degree of accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Rongchang Yan, Akshat H. Shah, David N. Dixon, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 8584072
    Abstract: A user is presented with a simulation environment within which the user is provided a choice to select between parasitic simulation modes of varying accuracy, the modes including a mode without parasitics and a plurality of modes including parasitics with a varying degree of accuracy. A selection from among the modes is received from the user and simulation test are performed at the selected degree of accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Rongchang Yan, Akshat H. Shah, David N. Dixon, Keith Dennison
  • Patent number: 8261228
    Abstract: Techniques are presented for accounting for parasitics in the automated design of integrated circuits. In one set of techniques, model values for parasitic models are received on a schematic environment from a user, the parasitic models are evaluated from the schematic using the received model values, the parasitic models are transferred to a layout environment, and the transferred parasitic models are evaluated on the layout environment. In other techniques, model values are received for parasitic models from a user, the parasitic models are evaluated on the layout environment, and the process then backannotates the parasitic models evaluated on the layout environment and corresponding parameter values to a schematic environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Prakash Gopalakrishnan, Rongchang Yan, Akshat H. Shah, David N. Dixon, Keith Dennison
  • Publication number: 20120023465
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic designs with simulation awareness. A schematic is identified or created and simulated at the schematic level to characterize the functional behavior of the circuit or to ensure the circuit design meets the required design specifications. Physical data of a component of the design is identified, created, or updated, and the electrical parasitic associated with physical data is characterized. One or more electrical characteristics associated with the parasitic is further characterized and mapped to the simulator to re-simulate the circuit design to analyze the impact of parasitics. Some embodiments re-run the same simulation process incrementally in an interactive manner by accepting incremental design or parameter changes from the design environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Prakash GOPALAKRISHNAN, Michael MCSHERRY, David WHITE, Ed FISCHER, Bruce YANAGIDA, Keith DENNISON
  • Publication number: 20120023467
    Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system, and computer program product for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The method or the system updates the schematic level tool(s) and physical design tool(s) with electrical parasitic data or electrical characteristic data associated with electrical parasitics so both schematic and physical design tools are aware of the electrical parasitic or characteristic data in performing their functions such as extraction based simulations. The methods or systems are also aware of EM or IR-drop constraint(s) while implementing or creating a partial layout less than a complete layout. The method or the system also provides a user interface for a design tool to provide in situ, customizable, real-time information for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The methods or systems also support constraint verification for electronic circuit design implementation with electrical awareness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Michael MCSHERRY, David WHITE, Ed FISCHER, Bruce Yanagida, Prakash GOPALAKRISHNAN, Keith DENNISON, Akshat SHAH
  • Patent number: 7277804
    Abstract: A method, mechanism, and system for determining an effective resistance for a network of resistors, irrespective of the number of terminals is provided. An aspect of an approach relates to the reduction of any network of resistors to a single resistance value. Another aspect of an approach relates to the application of a power loss calculation to determine the effective resistance. Yet another aspect of an approach relates to the integration of the method/mechanism with an analog simulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2007
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian Gebbie, Ian Dennison, Zsolt Haag, Keith Dennison
  • Publication number: 20050288914
    Abstract: A method, mechanism, and system for determining an effective resistance for a network of resistors, irrespective of the number of terminals is provided. An aspect of an approach relates to the reduction of any network of resistors to a single resistance value. Another aspect of an approach relates to the application of a power loss calculation to determine the effective resistance. Yet another aspect of an approach relates to the integration of the method/mechanism with an analog simulator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2005
    Publication date: December 29, 2005
    Applicant: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian Gebbie, Ian Dennison, Zsolt Haag, Keith Dennison